a radical squad of black artists and artists of color

Artists

For the People Artists Collective currently consists of 15 Black artists & artists of color who shape the vision and mission of For the People Artists Collective.

Bria Royal is a black bori from the west side of Chicago. Bria is a multidisciplinary artist who considers her paintings, comics, and animations to be the result of a radical healing process that she hopes others will benefit from seeing unfold, and an attempt to construct intersectionally black and indigenous mythologies for ourselves and our future liberated descendants. Read more about Bria.

Hoda Katebi is a Chicago-based Muslim-Iranian photographer, community organizer, and radical fashion blogger. She is the author & photographer of the book Tehran Streetstyle, the first-ever in-print collection of streetstyle photography from Iran aimed to challenge both Western Orientalism and domestic Iranian mandatory dress codes. Read more about Hoda.

Tita Thomas is a visual artist and youth advocate from the South Side of Chicago. When she is not busy being magical, she enjoys dancing in her living room and laughing at memes. Tita is an organizing member of Assata’s Daughters. Read more about Tita.

Teshika Silver (Tesh for short) is a creative with over ten years of wide-range professional art experience. She is a talented graphic designer, working with local organizations and small business owners alike; be it designing logos, promotional pieces or anything in between. Read more about Tesh.

Ruby Pinto is an organizer and artist based in Chicago. She grew up doing all kinds of art and currently enjoys glass blowing and working with copper. She also loves to teach and make art with her community, and believes that creative expression is at the core of liberation. Read more about Ruby.

Monica Trinidad is a queer, Latinx artist & organizer, born & raised on the southeast side of Chicago. She is a co-founder of Brown & Proud Press, For the People Artists Collective, and the People’s Response Team. Read more about Monica.

Anurag Lahiri is a queer Muslim artivist, community organizer, and social worker based in Chicago. They are on the steering committees for the Queer South Asian National Network and DeQh, the Desi LGBTQ Helpline. Read more about Anurag.

Jireh L. Drake is an unapologetic Queer, Black, Non-Binary Femme, who is reimagining life in Chicago. They are a mixed media drawing and sculpting artist. They are a core member of For the People Artist Collective & Chicago’s Black Trans Gender Non-Conforming (BTGNC) Collective. Read more about Jireh.

Melisa Stephen is a queer, depressed, non-binary femme artist, organizer, and aspiring healer and youth worker of South Asian and Middle Eastern diasporic descent. They were born and raised in Louisville, KY, and are a Pisces sun, Pisces rising, and Libra moon! Read more about Melisa.

Sarah-Ji is a movement photographer who has been documenting freedom struggles in Chicago for the past 6 years. Sarah’s long term work is to build a world in which prisons and police are not necessary, and no one is disposable. Read more about Sarah-Ji.

Johannil Napoleon is a multimedia artist, activist, and art therapist. As an Afro-Dominican Haitian, her paintings, drawings, photography, and multimedia work depicts personal reflections of Blackness and Womanhood in relation to society and culture. Read more about Johannil.

Naimah Thomas is a Chicago-based art therapist and graduate of the Masters of Arts in Art Therapy program from the School of the Art Institute of Chicago. Naimah has been creating art based on what she has been witnessing in the media, within her community, and the impact it has on her identity. Read more about Naimah.

Serena Hodges is a videographer based in Chicago. Serena currently organizes with Chicago Desi Youth Rising (CDYR), a collective of radical South Asians looking to address racial, economic and other social violence and injustice. Read more about Serena.

Kara Rodriguez is a Chicago-based performance artist and zine-maker. They use their art to remind women, femmes, and queer people of color of our resilience, worth, power, and magnificence. Read more about Kara.

Danbee (Deb) Kim is a self and peer-taught Korean American illustrator and graphic designer who spiritually grounds herself in the healing justice and transformative justice movement in Chicago. Read more about Danbee (Deb).